Zesty Italian Chicken w/ sauteed Veggies

Last night I made a really yummy supper, and not to mention it was super easy!  I've been wanting to marinate some chicken breasts in Italian Dressing, because it makes the chicken tender and gives it awesome flavor.  I also have been wanting to grill, but with our nasty and cold weather we've been having we can't really grill outside.  So I had to improvise and do a little thinking on whether to cook it in the cast iron skillet, or in the oven.  I thought I should make a healthy choice for this meal and cook it in the oven.  I found this easy recipe here (mainly just needed to know how long to cook it at and what temp, because the chicken was already marinating in the dressing), and the rest is history!  We had some zucchini in the fridge, along with some onion, red pepper, and asparagus...that was our yummy side dish!!!  Mmmm...I love zucchini and red peppers sauteed, but not a huge fan of asparagus which was mainly for D.  Enjoy!

Adapted original recipe from allrecipes.com (with some added seasoning and personal notes)



Ingredients: minus Asparagus and butter...Chicken was already marinated

Ingredients:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (any Zesty Italian dressing will work, but I used Kraft)
Salt
Fresh ground Pepper
Minced Onion
Garlic Salt
1-2 Zucchini (depending on size, I used 2 small), peeled and chopped to saute
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeds removed and chopped (length wise)
1 small Onion, diced (however you like to cut up your onions for sauteing)
3 Tbsp Butter, separated in half (for each skillet)
1 bundle of Asparagus (cut off ends, 1"-1-1/2")

Directions:
1. Pound out your chicken breasts and trim off the fat if there is any to trim off (I used my Pampered Chef Meat Tenderizer, flat side).
2. Put chicken into a ziploc bag and pour in Zesty Italian Dressing, and marinate for at least an hour (I like to marinate mine for at least 6 hours, the longer the better!).
3. Once chicken is marinated, place chicken in a light greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Discard the remaining marinade left in baggy (I drizzled a little extra over the top first).
4. Season chicken with Salt, Fresh Ground Pepper (or regular pepper), Minced Onion, and Garlic Salt (this is optional, but I like to add a little additional flavor).
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45minutes to 1 hour (mine took about 45-50 minutes, and it was perfect!).
6. Prep all veggies as stated above, and melt butter in 2 skillets over medium heat (unless you want to cook the asparagus with your Zucchini and Red Pepper, then 1 skillet is fine).  Add in veggies and saute until desired doneness (I also seasoned the veggies with some salt and pepper while sauteing them).
7. Enjoy the awesomeness!



Saute Zucchini, Red Bell Peppers, and Onion in butter



Saute Asparagus in butter until preferred doneness
(I put a lid on it to speed up the cooking time)



Yumm-O!

This is one meal I could seriously eat just about everyday!  I love Chicken, love love Zucchini, and love Red Bell Peppers!!  Here are a few other recipes that have Zucchini, and Red Pepper, that you should check out (if you already haven't) and try!!

Heavenly Zucchini Bread

Hearty Round Steak Casserole

Steak & Red Pepper Omelette's



PS - The flu bug did attack me, but like I said Tuesday it was gone.  However, Tuesday night I started to get a sore throat.  So for now I'm battling that, and I will win! 

PPS - It snowed here last week, but most of it melted away by the end of the week due to the nice weather that decided to join us for a couple days (more like a teaser!), and then Tuesday night it iced really bad and snowed a little bit last night.  So we've been slipping and sliding around for the last couple days...not fun!  Stay warm, everyone!



Linking up with...
At Home With Haley
It's A Blog Party
Today's Creative Blog
The Shabby Chic Cottage
What Allie's Making Now
Somewhat Simple
Paisley's Passions
Not So Homemade